Matassa Cuvée Alexandría 2024

Domaine Matassa is the Roussillon project of Tom Lubbe, a New Zealand winemaker who trained at Domaine Gauby and works with native varieties and minimal intervention. Cuvée Alexandría is made from Muscat of Alexandria, here named Moscatel de Alejandría, a grape known for its heady floral and citrus aromatics. The schist and granite soils of the Roussillon and the warm Mediterranean climate, cooled by altitude and the Tramontane wind, give ripe, perfumed fruit with freshness. The wine is made naturally as an orange wine, with extended skin contact and eleven months of ageing in oak barrel. Skin contact draws tannin, pigment and phenolics from the grape skins, building the amber colour and a real grip that frames the grape's perfume, while the long barrel ageing and slow oxygen exchange add savoury, oxidative complexity and a fuller texture. The wine is amber in the glass. The nose shows bergamot, orange marmalade, bitter orange and rose over dried herbs and honey. The palate is dry and textured, the aromatic fruit reined in by firm tannin and a long, savoury finish. Serve at 12 to 14 degrees.